


From Within

by Bethanen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Werewolves, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 16:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19321939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethanen/pseuds/Bethanen
Summary: Gilda Montgomery struggles through her third year at Hogwarts. After the loss of her parents and younger brother to death eaters, she is put into the care of her aunt Millicent.After a rather eventful full moon, Snape discovers that she's not just a shy and anxious student like she seems to be in his potions class.





	1. Chapter 1

_ *Gilderleaf - the shiny golden leaves from the Gildertree. They can only be harvested successfully at sunset, when the light of the golden hour hits the foliage. The leaves hold strong healing properties for life threatening wounds. _

* * *

 

**_October 30th, 1993_ **

 

Gilda had only just arrived to the prefect’s bathroom after sprinting up the spiral staircase, when a searing pain burned through her head. she tried her best to stifle a scream, biting into her sleeved arm. 

Quickly, she locked the door with a charm to prevent her own escape, or in case any poor soul chose to take a bath that evening.

The light of the full moon illuminated the stone floor through the stained glass as the sound of droplets was amplified in Gilda’s already sensitive ears. A dominant ringing overtook her hearing. 

It called to her. It screamed her other name in a thousand different voices between her ears. It called for a wolf, like a king calling for his soldiers.

 

She completely lost track of time, and forgot her agreement with Madame Pomfrey, but it was too late already, and she wasn’t anywhere near the Shrieking Shack. Dread filled her stomach, and she desperately hoped luck was in her favour tonight.

 

The pain spread from her head to her stomach like fire. Gilda fell to her knees onto the stone floor, doubling over and clutching her stomach. 

It needed to be fed.

The Slytherin student was now writhing in pain on the floor. The coldness of the stone only slightly cooled her burning skin.

The static thrumming only got louder, like a swarm of angry doxies in her skull.

She couldn’t stifle a scream as she felt her bones reshape with sickly crunches. Her skin stretched to accommodate the change and she became hyper aware of every scent in the cold dank room.

 

Halfway through the change, everything went black as the wolf took over.


	2. Chapter 2

She didn’t remember anything as she woke.  
Her body felt cold. too cold. She found herself lying in about two inches of cold water.  
One of the sinks was completely removed from the wall and shattered into pieces on the other side of the bathroom. A steady burst of water shot from the exposed pipe.  
A few tiles were broken into shards, scattered along the floor.  
Gilda sat upright, inspecting the damage, until she noticed a blooming of red surrounding herself in the water. Looking down at her body, she noticed deep scratches all over her legs and torso. Her uniform was torn some places too.  
“Bloody hell” She cursed. Those uniforms weren’t cheap. She’ll have to see if she can mend it.

As she sat up, she searched for her wand, only to find it floating next to her in the water. She grabbed it and hastily shot a reparo in the direction of the gushing sink. The water stopped immediately as the sink reattached itself to the exposed pipe, her focus wavers, and the piece of marble falls back down with a heavy crash. Gilda grasped the side of her throbbing head at the sound, hoping Ravenclaws are deep sleepers by nature...

She waits for her head to clear before standing up. Everything hurt, especially the cuts and bruises, as she moved her body. Her bones felt like they were filled with lead and fused together at the joints.  
The bleeding created more dark red patches on her uniform, which she tried to stifle with her hands.  
“Airhead,” she berated myself for not paying more attention to any healing spells in charms class.  
Slowly, she limped toward the exit, noticing by the dark window that the night was well along. Was it still the same night? It must be, or i would’ve bled out.

The walk back to the Slytherin dorms was gruelling. The dark hallways seemed to stretch on forever, and keeping her right hand off her wounds - to continually cast lumos - made her drip blood on the stone flooring. At one point, she struggled to keep unconsciousness at bay, nearly falling head-first into one of the sleeping figures of the portraits. It grumbled to life “Kids these days... Oh my. I’d visit Madame Pomfrey if i were you.” The painted man gave me a stern eye as she trudged on.

Again, she heard her heartbeat in her ears, along with ringing as a black fog started to creep into the edges of her vision. Shaking her head, she refused to fall asleep. It couldn’t be much father now…  
Suddenly, another, brighter wand appeared from the darkness. Attached to it, was a very disgruntled professor Snape, angry to see a student out after curfew. A frown wrinkled his brow.  
“What are you doing out past-“  
His expression quickly changed into shock though, as soon as he saw the bleeding.  
“Merlin, what happened to you,” he exclaimed.  
No sooner than him finishing his sentence, had Gilda stopped fighting against sleep, her body falling to the floor. Only it wasn’t stone that met it, but two cloaked arms.


	3. Chapter 3

A quiet shuffling and breathing alerted The Potion's Master to the presence of a student out of bed.  
Severus took his usual approach, remaining in the dark before catching them by surprise when wordlessly casting lumos. He uttered the usual reprimand, before noticing it was one of his house students, Gilda Montgomery. Her white shirt was covered in dark patches of blood, dripping through her fingers where she tried to stop the bleeding.  
The rest of her looked abysmal, bruises and scratches covered her arms and face, her uniform was tattered and soaked with water, and i seemed like she was struggling to stay awake.   
“Merlin, what happened to you,” was the only thing he could manage, before her eyes rolled back into her head and she dropped to the floor like a ragdoll.   
Reflex had him putting his arms in the way of her and the hard stone floor. 

Severus’ mind raced over any possible reason for the state she was in, when it connected in his mind. Tonight had been a full moon. With dawn approaching, she must have gone through a transformation.   
Looking back, he remembered the Montgomery family to be the subject of much talk when her mother and father were shunned from the family as they renounced the pure-blood ideology the Montgomerys upheld for decades.  
They fled their estate in Wistman’s Wood, and reportedly never stayed in the same place long, as their family aggressively pursued the young parents in the name of their Dark Lord.  
Eventually, they caught up to them, and the parents were slain with the killing curse, but not before the infant brother was killed by Torak Grindlewood, a werewolf allied with the Death Eaters.   
He must have attacked miss Montgomery as well, but it seems she was the only one of the siblings to survive the bite, seeing as Lewis was still young and frail. 

Bringing her to Madame Pomfrey in the infirmary would mean the other students could be at risk. The night was still young, what’s to say she doesn’t transform again? 

The potions master made a quick decision: he would bring her to the potions storeroom in the dungeons. Last week, Severus had busied himself finishing a couple vials of Wolfsbane potion, to give to Professor Lupin. It seemed Hogwarts was becoming a hotspot for lycanthropes.  
A thought popped up in his head. Although he hated asking anyone for help, perhaps Professor Lupin would be better equipped for something like this. The thought was quickly discarded for now, seeing as Lupin himself would be indisposed this particular lunar phase.   
So, Snape resigned himself to his first plan; he brought her down to the potions storeroom. With a flick of his wand, he summoned an armchair from his office and laid down the near lifeless body of the girl. Next, he wordlessly cast lumos to give himself some light to work in. The pale blue light illuminated the cluttered room, reflecting off of all the amber colored preserve jars. The light made Gilda look frail and pallid, like she aged ten years in a single night. Her hair was knotted and brittle, her near transparent skin revealed dark circles under her lidded eyes. The bones in her neck and wrist stood out at sharp angles, like she hadn’t eaten in over a week.   
Severus had never seen someone look that tired and worn-down before.

A small lidded cauldron sat atop the shelf to his right, in which he had brewed the wolfsbane potion for Lupin. Peeking inside, he was relieved to see there was still some of the potion left. It wasn’t much, but then again, he had brewed this potion at a concentration aimed to be effective for a full grown man, and she weighed much less than that. Severus poured the remaining contents into a goblet, which she must drink as soon as she awakens.   
Next, he must tend to the wounds. Three deep gashes ran down the top of her shoulder to just under her collarbone, ripping right through her stained uniform. Another scratch marred her cheek. Her arms were scratched too, but Severus noticed that there were similar scars as well, older and faded. He lifted up her hand, and confirmed his suspicion by her bloody fingertips. She had done this herself. Whether voluntarily or due to the transformation, he wasn’t entirely sure.

Browsing through the shelves of his ingedriënts, his eyes lingered on the glimmering roll of Gilderleaves*. Usually these were used in healing potions, but for more severe wounds, they could be placed directly onto the would if time was of the essence. They also prevented scar tissue from forming in new wounds, unlike Vulnera Sanentur, the more common healing spell. He started arranging some of the leaves to cover the deeper gashes.   
“Tergeo” he softly uttered, as the excess blood slowly lifted and vanished from underneath the leaves.

At least now the girl looked a little farther from death.


	4. Chapter 4

Severus felt drained. The headmaster’s heavy demands and poor choices truly started to weigh on his shoulders. Not only must he risk his own life spying for Dumbledore, he now had to deal with two lycanthropes in Hogwarts. Why hadn’t the old fool informed him? Severus bitterly recalled when Albus still asked of him to protect the Potter boy, even after he had broken his promise to protect Lily. 

Sure, Gilda was never as much of a nuisance as Harry Potter, keeping mostly to herself during his classes, but Severus couldn’t be responsible for keeping every single student safe.

He tiredly took a seat in his office, contemplating the situation. Severus  would have a hearty word with the Headmaster as soon as possible. 

 

It was hard for him to accept werewolves as his equal, seeing as they posed so much danger to the people around them. Severus had long battled against his own deep-rooted pure-blood ideology, it was hard to quell his hatred for any witch or wizard who wasn’t either pure or half blooded. 

Why did he have to see werewolves as his equal when the rest of the world didn’t? Why did he have to accept them when one of them belonged to the group of bullies who pestered him during his school years?

 

Severus felt exhausted. Of course, his sleep will be sorely missed come the morning, but he couldn’t go back to bed now. Not with a student in his potions storeroom. 

He resigned himself to brewing a cup of tea and organising the shelves. 

As soon as the kettle started whistling, the Slytherin student awoke with a start, Severus flinched. Gilda sat up in the armchair, her frantic eyes wide as she trembled. “What happened? Did i…” She looked at her own hands, still covered in blood, as panic set in her eyes. “Did i hurt anyone?” 


	5. Chapter 5

“Did i hurt anyone?” she choked, and moved to get up. He felt uneasy, never having dealt with a panicked student before.

“Did I hurt anyone?!” she yelled this time, to his surprise. He couldn’t recall the last time he heard her voice, she was always shy.

“It’s your blood. I found no other student.” Severus calmly uttered, pushing her back into the chair.

Tears streamed down her face, running along the dried blood from the cut on her cheek. 

 

Quickly, he moved to hand her the goblet with the potion. 

“Here, drink this.” He firmly commanded.

“What is it?” She asked fearfully.

“Wolfsbane potion, obviously.” He scoffed.

She cast her eyes into the murky contents of the goblet, then drank it down with a grimace.

“...You know.” She softly stated, referring to her secret being revealed.

“So it seems. However, transforming in the castle doesn’t do anything to conceal your… affliction.” He said menacingly. 

The young student cast her eyes down. It was hard to imagine the fearful and anxious girl could turn into a blood-thirsty beast every full moon. 

“Please don’t tell anyone.” She asked with a tremor in her voice.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to be asking me that, Miss Montgomery. Do you believe me to be a fool? You put every student in danger tonight.” He snapped, pinching the nose of his bridge in frustration. 

She looked at him with horror, tears once again streaming down her face.

“I must inform the Headmaster.” He stated flatly.

Severus turned on his heel and exited the room. Before she could get up, he slammed the door closed behind him and locked it with a spell. Gilda started banging on the door 

“Please, no! Don’t do this!” She screamed. 

Severus felt conflicted, treating the girl cruelly, but this was not his burden to bear, and it couldn’t wait ‘till morning. 


	6. Chapter 6

With long strides, he traversed the hallways to Dumbledore’s Office. 

“Fizzing Whizzbees” He uttered at the stone gargoyle marking the entrance of the office. A dull thud sounded, and the staircase started moving.

As he entered, he saw the old man scrutinizing the withered pages of an old tome.

“Headmaster,” Severus called

Albus looked up at him from his half-moon spectacles, as if he were offered a lemon sherbet, instead of being disturbed in the middle of the night.

“Good evening, Severus. What can I do for you at this fine hour?” He said whimsically.

_ Maybe be responsible for your own bloody students for once?  _ He thought bitterly.

His anger bubbled to the surface, making his tone rather harsh, “Care to explain to me why we have another werewolf in the school? And maybe, you could shed some light as to why i wasn’t informed?” he raised his voice flippantly. His mouth turned into a scowl.

Albus regarded him with a thoughtful smile. 

“Ah yes. I had doubts my little experiment could be kept a secret for long,” Albus began. “You see Severus, I had hoped by bringing someone like her into the student body, that I might prove some particular wizards wrong about their predjudice regarding lycanthropy.” 

Snape scoffed. How could this blithering fool think this was a good idea? 

“It seems you’ve forgotten that once the moon is full, they will harm anybody in their vicinity.” He snapped.

Albus frowned at the potion’s master. 

“I assure you, nobody goes near the Whomping Willow. I’ve instructed madame Pomfrey to escort miss Montgomery to the Shrieking Shack, where I doubt any student would go.” He said, incredulously.

Snape was fuming. 

“Well, I found her in the prefects bathroom, torn to shreds. It seems you’ve finally gone mad! What if another student decided to have a late night bath?” He slammed his fists onto the desk standing between them, rattling the objects strewn on the tabletop.

Albus looked completely befuddled. 

“Oh my. Has Poppy not brought her to the shrieking shack?” He asked

“Obviously not.” Severus bit back.

“Good heavens, is she alright? Has… she hurt anyone?” Now albus looked mortified.

“You can thank my healing expertise for that. I’ve applied Gilderleaf to the wounds she sustained and given her a Wolfsbane potion. She is momentarily in the potions storeroom” He replied stoically.


	7. Chapter 7

After a few minutes of banging on the massive wooden door, Gilda started getting lightheaded again, and some of her wounds seemed to have reopened. Tiredly, she leaned against the wall and slid down, at least here she couldn’t hurt anyone….

 

A pair of footsteps approached the dungeons, and Gilda backed away from the door, dreading the confrontation. _ “This is it”  _ she thought. _ “Professor Snape would have informed somebody. Maybe he’ll throw me to the Dementors, or worse, land me in Azkaban.”  _

 

A desperate sob escaped her. She never meant to hurt anyone. 

Gilda resigned herself to whatever fate was decided for her, feeling like she didn’t really deserve mercy. Lycanthropy was a serious illness, she wouldn’t fault anyone for wanting to send her away. 

Too tired to weep, she waited for the door to open.

And it did, but no dementors entered the room. It was Professor Dumbledore who walked in, along with Professor Snape.

 

“Good heavens, Severus, why did you lock her up?!” The old man asked Snape. 

“For the safety of everyone in the castle, perhaps?” He replied with an acidic tone.

Dumbledore rushed to help the girl upright. 

“What happened? Why didn’t you follow madame Pomfrey?” He asked with a worried voice.

“I’m so sorry professor… Please forgive me. I was too late.” Sobs wracked her voice as she tried to explain. 

“Please don’t send me away, I can’t -” 

“- It’s my fault, dear child” He stopped her. “I should have made sure you got to the Shrieking Shack safely.” He calmly said as he gently led her back to the armchair. 

Gilda frowned in confusion. 

“But… I’m a monster.” She softly spoke

Snape rolled his eyes. If it were up to him, he’d already have the girl locked in that damned shack at dawn.

“Miss Montgomery, you fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!” Albus told the girl, and after taking a deep breath, she calmed down a bit.

“That’s better. Now, I will explain to Madame Pomfrey, and you better be where she expects you to be next month.” The headmaster stated confidently.

“You mean I’m not expelled?” Gilda’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“Good heavens no, help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.” He said with a flicker in his eye.

Gilda dried her tears. The worst was over.

“Can you walk, miss Montgomery?” He asked, sensing the girl’s exhaustion.

“Yes sir. And I promise to be at the shack next month.” She replied, thankful for his good faith.

“Snape, please escort miss Montgomery back to the Slytherin dorms.” Dumbledore said.

“... Yes, headmaster.” Severus replied with disdain dripping from his voice. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I really struggled with the decision of the time period. I started writing this preferring the Marauders' era, so this might change later as I write more characters in.


End file.
